Capabilities and Choices: Do They Make Sen’se for Understanding Objective and Subjective Well-Being? An Empirical Test of Sen’s Capability Framework on German and British Panel Data

In Sen’s Capability Approach (CA) well-being can be defined as the freedom of choice to achieve the things in life which one has reason to value most for his or her personal life. Capabilities are in Sen’s vocabulary therefore the real freedoms people have or the opportunities available to them. In this paper we examine the impact of capabilities alongside choices on well-being. There is a lot of theoretical work on Sen’s capability framework but still a lack of empirical research in measuring and testing his capability model especially in a dynamic perspective. The contribution of the paper is first to test Sen’s theoretical CA approach empirically using 25 years of German and 18 years of British data. Second, to examine to what extent the capability approach can explain long-term changes in well-being and third to view the impact on subjective as well as objective well-being in two clearly distinct welfare states. Three measures of well-being are constructed: life satisfaction for subjective well-being and relative income and employment security for objective well-being. We ran random and fixed effects GLS models. The findings strongly support Sen’s capabilities framework and provide evidence on the way capabilities, choices and constraints matter for objective and subjective well-being. Capabilities pertaining to human capital, trust, altruism and risk taking, and choices to family, work-leisure, lifestyle and social behaviour show to strongly affect long-term changes in subjective and objective well-being though in a different way largely depending on the type of well-being measure used.     

Health and Other Aspects of the Quality of Life of Older People

Celebrating the United Nations' International Year of Older Persons, in September 1999 a survey research project was undertaken throughout the Northern Interior Health Region (NIHR) of British Columbia. A total of 875 people completed 23-page questionnaires, the average age of the respondents was 69 and the range ran from 55 to 95 years. Responses to the SF-36 questionnaire indicated that for male respondents aged 55–64, the mean score for the 8 dimensions was 74.4. This mean was practically identical to that of the United States norm for such people (74.5) and lower than that for the United Kingdom (77.4). For male respondents aged 65 and older, the mean was 68.3. This was numerically higher but again practically the same as that of the norm for the United States (68.1). For females aged 55–64, the mean score for 8 dimensions was 73. This was superior to that of the United States norm of (70.6) for such people and lower than that for the United Kingdom (74.6). For female respondents aged 65 and older, the mean score was 65.4. This was practically identical to that of the United States (65.5).Comparing 18 average figures for our respondents on satisfaction with specific domains of life (e.g., financial security, health, friendships) and life as a whole with those of average adults in Prince George in November 1999, we found that in all but two cases the older people's scores were higher. Only in the cases of satisfaction with health and overall happiness were older people's scores lower, and the differences were not statistically significant.Eleven percent of our respondents reported that they had been a victim of a crime in the last year, compared to 38% in our 1997 adult victimization survey. Older people had a more benign view than ordinary adults of the growth of crime in their neighbourhood and city, although exactly 64% of both groups thought that crime had increased in Canada. Although older people had a more optimistic view than other adults of the increase in crime in their neighbourhoods, fewer of the former than the latter felt safe out at night. Nevertheless, compared to adults surveyed in 1997, the behaviour of respondents in our survey of older people was not as constrained by concerns of criminal victimization.Two or three of the 8 SF-36 health dimensions explained 37% of the variation in life satisfaction scores, 34% of variation in happiness scores, 34% in satisfaction with the overall quality of life scores and 22% in satisfaction with one's overall standard of living. In every case, Mental Health was the dimension that had the greatest impact on our four dependent variables.When all of our potential predictors were entered into a regression equation simultaneously, we found that they could explain 60% of the variance in life satisfaction scores, 44% in happiness scores, 58% in satisfaction with the overall quality of life scores and 59% in satisfaction with one's overall standard of living scores.     

Everyday Life Mobilities of Older Persons – A Case Study of Ageing in a Suburban Landscape in Sweden

Abstract

This paper describes the changing everyday life mobility of an older couple living in a suburb in Sweden. The methods used are longitudinal interviews and time-geographical diaries. The results show a pronounced dependence on car use. Representations of suburbia – as places of freedom, independence and mobility enabled by private cars – devolve into a harsh reality, i.e. disabling lock-in effects for people gradually losing locomotion, and experiencing diminishing mobility capital and social intercourse. From a time-geographical perspective, capability constraints unfold in the form of time-demanding basic needs and limited access to different modes of transport due to deteriorating health and location of residence. Increased neighbourhood barriers and authority constraints also imply restricted access to different spaces and reduced control over one’s life situation.     

香港拾荒老人的生存境遇：以社会排斥为视角

本研究基于对96位60岁或以上的拾荒老人的问卷调查和17名老人的深度访谈,揭示了拾荒老人这一特殊群体的基本生活图景,并辨识出他们面对各种不同形式的社会排斥,包括经济排斥（缺乏工作机会与消费能力）、政治排斥（缺乏工会／机构保护其利益）、社会关系排斥（因拾荒而受到歧视或生活孤独）和福利排斥（没有领取社会保障金和无法企及社会福利服务）。     

The Role of Housing Space in Determining Freedom and Flourishing in Older People

This paper takes as its central thesis Martha Nussbaum’s normative proposition that social arrangements should be evaluated primarily according to the extent of freedom people have to promote or achieve functionings they value. Using this as a lens the paper explores the housing circumstances of older people in the UK. The paper makes three points. Firstly, given that people use their homes to structure and manage their lives, the design, quality and standard of their home is therefore a critical factor in determining their “doings and beings” [Sen: 1992, Inequality Re-examined (Clarendon Press, Oxford) p. 40]. Since older people are more likely to spend greater time within the home through lower income, lessening mobility or loss of companions, this may be of greater significance to them than other age groups. Secondly the paper argues that the design of “specialist” dwellings for older people where there is a shifting balance between housing and care has played a part in shaping the thinking about the position and status of older people as well as providing a material context in which older people live [Laws: 1994, Environment and Planning A 26: pp. 1787–1802]. This paper suggests that this context may alter or deny many aspects of life that may be meaningful to individuals and therefore may inhibit rather than promote human flourishing. The paper draws mainly on a small qualitative study in which older people spoke of their home and its meaning. Quotations from this work are given in italics.     

Stereotype and National Attachment in Hong Kong Chinese Context: A Moderated Mediation Model of Perceived Inter-group Relationship and Age

The present study investigated the relationship between Hong Kong people’s stereotype toward Mainland people and their own national attachment (i.e., national identity, constructive patriotism, and uncritical patriotism). The role of inter-group relationship as mediator and age as moderator of that relationship were also tested. A total of 1753 local Hong Kong people aged 17–80 (mean age = 20.35 years, SD = 5.02) completed anonymous questionnaires regarding their stereotypes toward Mainland people, inter-group relationship with Mainland people, and national attachment. As expected, stereotypes toward Mainland people, inter-group relationship and national attachment showed significant positive associations with each other. More interestingly, it was found that the inter-group relationship mediated the relationship between stereotypes toward Mainland people and three domains of national attachment, with this indirect link being weaker for younger Hong Kong adults than for older Hong Kong adults. Implications of the present findings for future research are discussed, as well as potential interventions for increasing subjective national attachment to China, especially in young Hong Kong people.     

Capabilities and Well-Being: Evidence Based on the Sen–Nussbaum Approach to Welfare

One of the most significant theoretical contributions to welfare analysis across a range of disciplines has been the development of the capabilities framework by Sen and others. Motivated by the claim that freedom should play a key role in social evaluation, the capabilities framework suggests that we consider what it is that people are free to do, as well as what they actually do. Using data from the British Household Panel Survey in conjunction with a list of substantial values posited by Martha Nussbaum, we contribute to the operationalisation and testing of this approach. Specifically, we suggest that commonly used secondary data sources do provide some information about the capabilities people have and that this can be incorporated into models of (subjective) well-being such as those used by a growing number of labour and health economists. We find evidence that a wide range of capabilities exhibit statistically significant relations to well-being that the relations are complex and slightly different for men and women, and conclude with suggestions for future developments.     

Resistance and acceptance: Ambivalent attitudes toward the aging body and antiaging practices among older Korean migrants living in New Zealand

ABSTRACT

Using intersectionality as a conceptual framework, this study investigated how older Korean women living in New Zealand perceived their aging bodies, antiaging practices and/or products, and how they used such products. Thematic analysis identified three themes: tension between acceptance of the aging body as an inevitable process and transformation of the aging body into a healthy body, juggling between abstinence and use of antiaging products and practices, and redefining natural aging. The findings challenge binary interpretations between “acceptance” of and “resistance” to the experiences of the aging process and the use of antiaging practices.     

Coffee intake,health-related quality of life,and associated factors of overactive bladder in older Korean women living in rural South Korea

ABSTRACT

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a common health problem in older women. The aim of the study was to investigate coffee consumption, health-related quality of life (HRQOL), and associated factors of OAB in older Korean women living in rural South Korea. A total of 248 women aged 65 years and older participated in this study. Chi-square tests, t-tests, and multivariable logistic regressions were performed. The means of coffee consumption between OAB and non-OAB groups were not significantly different. Women with OAB showed significantly lower HRQOL than women with stress urinary incontinence only. OAB was associated with high body mass index and poor health status.     

Constructing Global/Local Subjectivities – The New Zealand OE as Governance through Freedom

Abstract

The New Zealand working holiday phenomenon is commonly called the ‘Overseas Experience’ – often simply abbreviated as ‘OE’. While the OE as a working holiday is fundamentally constructed as a time of freedom, fun and cultural experiences, it is also crucially understood as a personal development and coming of age experience. Yet, the sorts of changes young New Zealanders envisage as they embark on their temporary journey abroad have been largely unexplored. Drawing on qualitative research material gathered in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2006–20007, this article explores the multiplicity of reasons young adults from NZ have for engaging in this finite travel phenomenon. By using Nikolas Rose’s theorisations about governance through freedom and the constitution of subjects in advanced liberal democracies, this paper shows that the exercise of freedom and the personal transformation into a full adult member of New Zealand society are highly visible aspirations of OE travellers. This transformation seems to require the paradoxical obligation to be free and exercise choice. Drawing on Rose, the article illustrates how as young New Zealanders insert themselves into OE discourses, they are governed through freedom.     

Migration and Pacific Mortality: Estimating Migration Effects on Pacific Mortality Rates Using Bayesian Models

Pacific people living in New Zealand have higher mortality rates than New Zealand residents of European/Other ethnicity. The aim of this paper is to see whether Pacific mortality rates vary by natality and duration of residence. We used linked census-mortality information for 25- to 74-year-olds in the 2001 census followed for up to three years. Hierarchical Bayesian modeling provided a means of handling sparse data. Posterior mortality rates were directly age-standardized. We found little evidence of mortality differences between the overseas-born and the New Zealand–born for all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. However, we found evidence for lower all-cause (and possibly cancer and CVD) mortality rates for Pacific migrants resident in New Zealand for less than 25 years relative to those resident for more than 25 years. This result may arise from a combination of processes operating over time, including health selection effects from variations in New Zealand’s immigration policy, the location of Pacific migrants within the social, political, and cultural environment of the host community, and health impacts of the host culture. We could not determine the relative importance of these processes, but identifying the (modifiable) drivers of the inferred long-term decline in health of the overseas-born Pacific population relative to more-recent Pacific migrants is important to Pacific communities and from a national health and policy perspective.     

Gender differences in the experience of loneliness in U.S. Chinese older adults

This study aimed to explore the gender differences in the experiences of loneliness in the U.S. Chinese older population. The data were drawn from the PINE study, a population-based study of U.S. Chinese adults aged 60 years and older. The Revised–University of California at Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (R-UCLA) was used to measure loneliness. Overall, older Chinese women (28.3%) had a higher rate of loneliness than older men (23.3%, p < .001). In particular, women were more likely to sometimes or often experience a lack of companionship than men (22.9% vs. 17.3%, p < .001). Older women living with fewer people, with lower health status, poorer quality of life, and worsening health changes over the past year were more likely than men to experience any loneliness. This study indicates that gender differences exist in the prevalence, symptoms, and correlates of loneliness. Longitudinal studies should be undertaken to understand gender differences in risk factors and outcomes of loneliness.     

Exploring the Hierarchical Structure of Pacific Identity and Wellbeing

To understand outcomes for Pacific peoples in New Zealand we need to further our psychological knowledge of the relationship between Pacific identity and wellbeing. We map the hierarchical organization of Pacific identity and wellbeing using a novel top-down factor analytic approach applied to the Pacific Identity and Wellbeing Scale (PIWBS; N = 586). Analyses indicated that Pacific identity experiences were organized within two broad dimensions reflecting Identity Engagement and Cultural Wellbeing. Critically, our analysis showed that Religious Centrality and Embeddedness emerged jointly from these dual broad domains. Religious identification provides a bridging link between identity and wellbeing for Pacific peoples. Identifying the relationships of Pacific identity and wellbeing factors, and how religious identification emerges jointly from these two broad domains, provides valuable information in how the Pacific self may be cognitively organized and may assist in future research directions in this area. We assert that this general statistical model provides broad conceptual insights into how Pacific peoples experience their identity and culture, and how this relates to various social indicators of health and wellbeing at a broad, theoretical level. In particular, we offer a conceptual analysis of possible insights from our hierarchical model of identity and wellbeing for understanding Pacific suicide in New Zealand.     

Development and Validation of the Older Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care (O-PACIC) Scale After Hospitalization

Objectives of this study were to develop and validate an instrument to assess older patients’ experiences with integrated care delivery after hospitalization. Our study was conducted among older individuals (≥65) who had recently been discharged from a hospital. At T1, 3 months after hospital admission, 296/457 patients (65 % response) were interviewed in their homes. At T2 12 months after hospital admission, 242/436 patients (56 % response) were interviewed. Point of departure for the development of the scale was the 20-item Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care (PACIC), which is proven to be a valid measure to assess chronically-ill patients’ assessment of integrated primary care delivery. We tested both the PACIC and new instrument by means of structural equation modeling, and examined its validity and reliability. After eliminating 10 items of the PACIC, the confirmatory factor analyses revealed good indices of fit with the 10-item Older Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care (O-PACIC) Scale. To estimate construct validity of the instrument, we looked at correlations between PACIC and O-PACIC scores and the satisfaction with stroke care home subscale (SASC-Home) questionnaire. Both the PACIC and O-PACIC significantly correlated with SASC-Home subscale (at p ≤ 0.001), which indicated validity. This study demonstrated that O-PACIC is a feasible, reliable and valid tool, with strong psychometric properties. We conclude that the O-PACIC is a promising instrument to evaluate integrated care delivery after hospitalization among older patients.     

家庭储蓄养老平衡模型构造与实证分析

由于传统家庭保障变化及土地保障的“虚化” ,人们所依靠的传统家庭保障方式发生了变异 ,开始把目光转移到个人储蓄养老上。问题是苏南农村居民这种储蓄方式是否能够承担起全部的养老生活费用 ?本文通过构造储蓄养老平衡模型来评估这种储蓄养老模式的养老能力。     

Unclaimed treasures:older women's reflections on lifelong singlehood

Ever-single, older women are a diverse group, whose experiences of singlehood have received little attention from researchers. In this qualitative study, eight women between the ages of 65 and 77 living in a mid-sized Southwestern Ontario city were interviewed about being ever single, including their perspectives of the benefits and drawbacks of this status at their current age. Data were collected in semi-structured interviews, and the constant comparative method was used for data analysis. Emergent themes illustrated how the women's stories of singlehood were affected by the sociopolitical contexts of their youth. Upon reflection, the women articulated the benefits of lifelong singlehood, strongly emphasizing their independence and "ability to be alone," which was viewed as very important as they aged. The drawbacks of singlehood focused on loneliness and the absence of a social support network, which took on particular importance as the women experienced increasing age and frailty. Overall, the participants expressed satisfaction with their marital status and defied common stereotypes about older, single women. Implications of these findings relate to the social structure of marital status and its impact upon the lives of women who remain single.     

Resilience in low-income African American women living and aging with HIV

Women are living with HIV into middle and older age and are likely to face multiple comorbidities and stressors as they age. This study focused on understanding how women who experience multiple forms of oppression and ongoing adversity are still able to adapt and stand strong. Using a theoretical framework of resilience and a feminist research ideology, interviews of eight middle-aged and older African American women living with HIV were analyzed. Despite experiences of HIV-related discrimination, trauma, and violence, these women demonstrated a remarkable ability to adapt and maintain support. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Poverty in People with Disabilities: Indicators from the Capability Approach

People with disability are particularly exposed to poor living conditions: on one hand they have more difficulties in getting an income cause to their inabilities, on the other hand conditions of poverty increase the risk of disability. However, little rigorous quantitative research has been undertaken to measure the real impact of disability on poverty. Methods based on monetary set (income and consumption) may not reflect the real possibility to convert resources into the fulfilment of personal goals. The capability approach, developed by A. K. Sen, offers a useful framework for the evaluation and assessment of individual well-being considering both monetary and non-monetary resources. The study describes a methodology, derived from the capability approach, to estimate the additional income needed for various types of household with and without disabled members to ensure the same satisfaction with economic resources. The method has been applied to the Italian contest, where 2.6 million people with disability live, and then the results are compared with the findings from an analogous study conducted in UK. The study reveals that disabled people in Italy need an income level two times higher to enjoy the same level of economic satisfaction, while in UK 50% of extra resource are sufficient. The findings suggests that traditional evaluations based on consumption lead to an underestimation of the needs of household containing disabled members. It follows that the financial benefits envisaged by actions planned by government through current instruments may not be completely effective.     

Common Factors That Enhance the Quality of Life for Women Living in Their Own Homes or in Aged Care Facilities

A qualitative study of older women living in their own homes and older women living in aged care facilities found that the concerns of the women living in their own homes were the realities of life for the residents in the aged care facilities. Twenty-five female residents across two facilities and 11 older women living in their own homes were interviewed. The positive outcomes of aging at home are relevant and desirable for residents of aged care facilities. A smooth transition from community living to residential aged care involves retaining some of these positive aspects of their lives.